Devs are actively working on balancing the Red and Blue side
The win rate imbalance between the Blue and Red sides in League of Legends isn’t just your imagination. Riot Games is aware of this issue, though it’s not as pronounced in lower Elo levels. They are actively working on solutions, but it will take some time.
This week, the LoL community has been upset about the imbalances between the two sides on Summoner’s Rift. The uproar began after a fan investigated and gave win rate statistics.
Although this issue has recently gained more attention, balance boss Matt Leung-Harrison mentioned that his team has been looking into this for a while and is already working on changes.
On July 7, Leung-Harrison stated on Twitter that they are “working on optimizing red/blue side balance” but warned that it will take some time to resolve. He also pointed out that the imbalance primarily affects higher-tier players in ranked play, while lower-tier players are less impacted.
In lower ranks like Bronze, Gold, and Emerald, there is a slight imbalance, but it usually balances out over time. However, in higher ranks such as Diamond, Master, and Challenger, the difference between the 2 sides becomes more significant.
The statistics support this: in low-tier Elo games, the blue side wins 51.1% of the time, which is fairly balanced. In Emerald and higher, the red side’s win rate increases to 49.4%, while the blue side’s win rate drops to 50.6%. In Diamond and above, the red side’s win rate dramatically increases to 52.9%, with the blue side’s 47.1%.
Riot’s most likely solution will involve changes to League lobby matchmaking. Historically, Riot has assigned the red side a higher average MMR to compensate for the disadvantage of playing with less favorable camera angles and map perspectives.
While Riot has not confirmed when these changes will be implemented, Leung-Harrison’s comments suggest it will take some time.